Aincrad Daily Roster
by Eldritch Luna
Summary: The families of SAO victims came one step closer to justice today with the court's verdict to publicize the Aincrad Daily Roster. Kept classified by the Ministry for over ten years, each roster is a system generated record that detailed how many lived and how many died at the end of each day in Akihiko Kayaba's death game... A/N: One-shot, written in form of a magazine article.


AINCRAD DAILY ROSTER

A/N: I have taken feedback from [Agent 94] and changed the character names. Including Suguha is indeed a bit hamfisted. Also, it is Asuna's brother who features in the story, not her father. Kouichiro is likely to be more MMO savvy than Shouzou Yuuki.

*1*

Aincrad Daily Roster (Date: November 06, 2022)

# Participants logged in: 9981

# Nerve Gear firmware update: Complete

# Cardinal check: Complete

Initiate game? (Select Y/N)

*2*

Aincrad Daily Roster (Date: November 08, 2022)

# Participants alive: 9090

# Participants deceased: 891

# Primary cause of fatality: Suicide

# Floors cleared: 0

*3*

Aincrad Daily Roster (Date: December 27, 2022)

# Participants alive: 6229

# Participants deceased: 3752

# Primary cause of fatality: Player-kill

# Floors cleared: 0

*4*

Aincrad Daily Roster (Date: January 31, 2023)

# Participants alive: 6079

# Participants deceased: 3902

# Primary cause of fatality: Battle at Floor 1 Boss Room

# Floors cleared: 1

*5*

Aincrad Daily Roster (Date: March 23, 2023)

# Participants alive: 6004

# Participants deceased: 3977

# Primary cause of fatality: Non-attributable

# Floors cleared: 7

*6*

Aincrad Daily Roster (Date: August 15, 2023)

# Participants alive: 5843

# Participants deceased: 4138

# Primary cause of fatality: Battle at Floor 25 Boss Room

# Floors cleared: 25

*7*

Aincrad Daily Roster (Date: November 07, 2023)

# Participants alive: 5564

# Participants deceased: 4417

# Primary cause of fatality: Player-kill

# Floors cleared: 36

*8*

Aincrad Daily Roster (Date: February 14, 2024)

# Participants alive: 5183

# Participants deceased: 4798

# Primary cause of fatality: Battle at Floor 50 Boss Room

# Floors cleared: 50

*9*

Aincrad Daily Roster (Date: May 07, 2024)

# Participants alive: 4460

# Participants deceased: 5521

# Primary cause of fatality: Non-attributable

# Floors cleared: 51

*10*

Aincrad Daily Roster (Date: June 08, 2024)

# Participants alive: 4008

# Participants deceased: 5978

# Primary cause of fatality: Non-attributable

# Floors cleared: 51

# CAUTION: Possible system error. External influence suspect

*11*

Aincrad Daily Roster (Date: September 17, 2024)

# Participants alive: 1927

# Participants deceased: 8059

# Primary cause of fatality: Non-attributable

# Floors cleared: 53

# WARNING: System error confirmed. External influence suspect

*12*

Aincrad Daily Roster (Date: November 06, 2024)

# Participants alive: 0

# Participants deceased: 9981

# Primary cause of fatality: Battle at Floor 55 Boss Room

# Floors cleared: 54

# FATAL ERROR: All participants deceased

Exit? (Select Y)

*13*

The families of SAO victims came one step closer to justice today with the court's verdict to publicize the Aincrad Daily Roster. Each roster is a system generated report that detailed how many lived and how many died at the end of each day throughout the duration of two years over which the game ran.

Sword Art Online, or SAO in short, was a Japanese Virtual-Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (VRMMORPG) that gained infamy when its lead designer, Akihiko Kayaba, sabotaged the system and trapped ten thousand players in an absurdly high stakes game that would kill them if they happened to die in it. The Nerve Gear consoles on which the game ran were also rigged to kill the players if any attempt to rescue them from outside were made. The only condition imposed by Kayaba under which the players could escape was if they succeeded in making their way through all hundred levels that comprised the game. Authorities managed to track down Kayaba to a remote rural cottage within a week of the incident, only to find the deranged genius dead by his own hands. What ensued has gone down as the most heinous and tragic incident in the history of cybercrime.

For Mariko Mori, who networked with and urged families to come forth with their grief and back the petition, reading the roster has made raw old wounds. 'I was fourteen when my brother died', she says. 'My parents had no choice but to euthanize him after the government rescinded the subsidy on medical support, we had gone so deep into debt to keep him alive. That's what hurts: there's no greater horror than to watch your beloved die at your own hands.'

Kouichiro Yuuki, who backed Mariko's lengthy petition and spearheaded the legal battle against the Ministry, admits it's a bittersweet victory. 'My family had the financial strength to keep my sister alive even without the subsidy. But MMO games like SAO are based around teamwork and specialization. For example, a player who has specialised his avatar as a warrior cannot re-specialize as a blacksmith. So the frontline players who are all combat masters need to rely on other player classes like blacksmiths for weapons, and healers for potions. Now you have thousands of families who are forced to put down their kids because they can no longer bear the medical expenses. This equates to thousands of players dying in-game in a very short period of time, many of whom were indispensable warriors or blacksmiths or healers. It should have been obvious to us from the start: that letting finances determine who lived and who died would doom the life of every single boy and girl we tried so hard to save.'

Kouichiro's statement is a call back to the controversial policy that the preceding administration adopted regarding the fate of players trapped in-game. The high medical expenses of supporting ten thousand comatose patients coupled with the market crash and subsequent economic depression of 2023 had thrown the treasury into crisis. Sejirou Kikouka, the man who led the SAO Victims Rescue Task Force ten years ago, was blatantly frank regarding the choices that were made. 'Over twenty one million children died across the world in 2022. Most of these deaths took place in impoverished countries that could ill-afford the infrastructure and resources to ensure their survival. It was a similar situation here in Japan, whether people like to admit it or not.'

'If the administration kept on with providing subsidy instead of infusing much needed funds into the market, it would have led to a catastrophic collapse of industries throughout the nation. How would millions of jobless breadwinners with families to feed have dealt with that kind of crisis? Remember that for every child and young adult that died in SAO, there are a hundred more who are now alive and building their own families. And it's all thanks to those very unpopular decisions that **had** to be made.'

When asked if publicizing the roster would ameliorate the suffering of the bereaved, Kikouka's response was mixed. 'There are wounds that never truly heal. But with time we can teach ourselves to redirect the negative energy towards positive uses. It's called sublimation. That's what gives rise to poets, to artists, to revolutionaries, and to people who learn to live their life to the fullest without fear or despair. But every coin has two faces. I know several ex-Argus employees who live abroad. Decent, well-meaning people who were unwitting accomplices in Kayaba's plan but were forced to flee the nation as a result of the stigma they faced. I pray that the declassification of the rosters does not revive that sentiment towards them.'

The government erected a memorial in remembrance of all who died in SAO. The monument, a slab of jet black marble, stands unattended and caked in white from years' worth of bird droppings. Instead, every year on the 6th of November, cemeteries across the nation come to life as families visit the lost souls to pay their respect. Flowers are laid, and candles lit. That's where I met Mariko. She stood by Kouichiro as he lit candles at his sister's grave. 'The last of the players died fighting the boss monster on the 55th Floor. Asuna was the very last to fall. I'm sure she went with a bang, gave the finger to Kayaba.' He was smiling.

That's the funny part about life. People who've been handed the short end of the stick find a way to laugh about it. The generation that lost so many of their brothers and sisters have persevered and filled that void with their own children. One of life's great ironies is that we must first lose all that we hold dear to find hope. And thus for once I am happy with the life that I have been dealt.

\- Erika Nakahara

Official Correspondent, Globe Weekly


End file.
